Meliglwssos

I chose Indonesia because I got a CLS there last summer. There's no language requirement but I figured I would be more competitive already having a functional grasp of the language. I also didn't exactly fall in love with Indonesia when I went there. I had the worst culture shock of my life. But I also felt learning to navigate the pretty extreme cultural differences made me a better person. There's also very little opportunities to study Indonesian outside of an immersion environment. There aren't good books on it according to my teachers so I'd like to improve my Indonesian. things I do love: the landscapes, how much people smile there, their sense of humor, their approach to story telling, how concerned they are for others, the juice things that make it challenging: being treated like an object, photographs, lack of privacy (I have so many stories about that) But that's not a pros/cons list, the challenges add to why I chose it

I applied for ETA but since you don't apply to a specific area for that and Indonesia is a very diverse country especially in respect to what resources you can expect to find I was vague. I said I wanted to work with groups that keep girls in school and listed groups I knew of. I also said I was interested especially if placed rurally to help stock up libraries. I have seen other applications be more or less related to the program they applied for. The main thing my advisor said was showing integration into the community. Maybe you could find something similar to what you had but dealing more with people, or find a way to stress the communal aspect of the nature park.

(Indonesia ETA semi-finalist as well) I'd love to know today because tomorrow I'm getting on a train to Miami then a flight for Madrid. I don't want to be checking my email whenever I get to the hostel. I wish I had the patience to just let it happen when it happens but I'm anxious. I was a lot more calm about CLS (partially because I was having a great time studying in Ecuador & I didn't really think I should get it) but I feel like the more confidant I am about my qualifications the more nervous I become waiting. Best of luck to you!

No, we just apply to Indonesia in general and then if accepted we fill out a priority list and they place us. I'm thinking my main thing is going to be food restrictions. I've only been to Malang, Wonosari, Blitar, and Gunung Bromo (I forget the city name). I'd like to go somewhere else. I might ask for Flores, because a current Fulbrighters blog says they have a lot of vegetarian food because of tourism. Also, it's beautiful. My tutor was from Ambon and I'd like to look at that area (Maluka?) for travel, too. I may not have a lot of choice in placement, though. What draws you to Sumatra?

I applied as an ETA. I haven't heard of an interview for it. I think I read somewhere that they haven't done one but I forget where.

I went to school in MN and took a gap year. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my somewhat obscure (Latin + Ancient Greek) major, so I went home, spent some time with my family, and tutored and worked as a substitute. I probably wouldn't have felt confidant about applying or known where to go if I hadn't happened to win a Critical Languages Scholarship (for 2016) and a really supportive staff at my old school. But going from subbing in FL to a Fulbright grant really would feel like an escape. Good luck to you too!

That could be. He didn't specifically say that it was for my school, but we are pretty small and usually get around 11 people get Fulbright each year. They were also very involved in the application process and we had a large pool of successful applications to look at.

He meant in general. I'm glad he told me because I wanted to know, but now I'm worried it is making me feel too confidant. Good luck!

I just got recommended for the Indonesia ETA program! My FPA said there is about a 70% chance for ETA semi-finalists and 60% for research. Is that similar to what other people are hearing?